A year and a half ago, some fans of Syd Barrett turned me on to the music of Robyn Hitchcock. They recommended that I buy
I often dream of trains (1984) which is probably Robyn’s most Barrett-like album : the fragile voice, the slight voluntary disharmonies and askew melodies… The album has that “madcap” quality that characterises Barrett’s work. If you are unfamiliar with the work of Robyn Hitchcock but don’t know where to start, I recommend this album. It’s acoustic qualities give you the impression the album’s been handmade. The fragility and the sincerity of the voice are easily accessible. It doesn’t take a long time to “get into” this record. The Barrett like melodies and delivery hook you in and then the other charms of this record grow on you slowly, over the following weeks or months… At least that’s what happened to me. It became the record I’d listen to every day, for several months, to relax to after coming home from work… It took me all that time to get my head around all this album has to offer. It’s not just some retro Barrett imitation : it’s an initiation into the surreal world of Robyn Hitchcock. There are tons of influences and styles on there, styles that Hitchcock immediately makes his own. Fragile ballads, a country and western-like lulling number, finely penned examples of British song writing skills, somehow reminiscent of some Ray Davies numbers, with those same British nostalgic qualities (I often dream of trains, Trams of old London…). With the exception of one of the songs, Mellow together, with a tedious vocal that sounds somewhere in between the Monty Python “Gumby” character and Neil the hippie from The Young Ones, the record’s an absolute gem. Even with that song. After all, it’s all part of the Robyn Hitchcock experience : experimenting with different tones, styles and moods. Perhaps one of the reasons I’ve come to appreciate the work of Robyn Hitchcock so much is that he embodies the independent artist “doing his own thing”. A major point in the world of Robyn is the deeply personal side of a lot of the lyrics. Personal to the extent that at times they are probably understandable only to him and sometimes you doubt even that ! In that he resembles Barrett. Octopus, on The Madcap Laughs fits together beautifully and conjures up a rich imagery : you can sense it’s all perfectly coherent in Syd’s head but are unable to explain the lyrics. Hitchcock does that too : his lyrics seem obscure but create moods and images… The wonderful thing Robyn manages to do, at times, is to give the impression that his lyrics just flow out freely, as if he were improvising, making them up on the spot. A very difficult trick to pull. He shamefacedly pulls off rhymes that would ridicule lesser men. In Robyn’s mouth they sound natural, simply the logical progression of things. It’s like that “automatic writing” thing the surrealists used to do. The words unfolding unhindered and all the more evocative and powerful for it. I’m just talking about the impression given here. I know nothing of Hitchcock’s process of song-writing : things may be incredibly slow and studied for all I know. I’m talking about the overall effect. Definitely one that prefers the feeling, the general vibe over pristine production or instrumentation…
Taking of surrealism, there are several amazing chanted pieces on the album that recall the surrealism of certain Captain Beefheart pieces. Hitchcock throws his voice around here in the same way as Beefheart. There’s Furry Green Atom Bowl, of course, but also the incredible Uncorrected Personality Traits. The delivery of the piece owes something to British music hall tradition, another point in common with some of Ray Davies’ best work.
Barrett, Captain Beefheart, Ray Davies from the Kinks, what a trio of influences ! But the list goes on : sometimes Robyn's voice bears a strong similarity to John Lennon's (there's a cover of Lennon's Cold Turkey on the Soft Boys' first album, A Can of Bees. The Soft Boys were Robyn's group, before he became a solo artist.) and a few of his songs are reminiscent of the Byrds with their jangly strumming…
But again, I must stress that Robyn Hitchcock has nothing to do with some retro tribute. He takes all these influences and makes them his own. He stamps them with his personal seal, giving them his personal feel. His universe is a troubled land of desire, of surrealism, submarine imagery, psychoanalysis, obsession with death, gender-blurring, British humour and wit, nostalgia… It can only be described in vague terms : it's just something that you have to experience for yourself.
So I'd recommend starting off with I often dream of trains as it's both a beautiful album and good display of Robyn's all-round talents.
Since the happy purchase of I often dream of trains I've splashed out on other Robyn albums. They're all brilliant and they're all…. different ! I'm still trying to get my head round them. I'll write full reviews if I ever have them sussed, in the meantime I'll display my enthusiasm in a line or two per disc.
